Customer Reviews

The Net

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) leads a life that is unlike most. She doesn't have much excitement in her life; her life is built mostly around her being a MAJOR computer ace. Unfortunately, her favorite hobby and job just might get her in trouble when she comes in contact with the wrong group of people and when she finds a top-secret program that can faulter computer networks.

"The Net" is a GREAT movie to say the least! The majority of the best suspense movies are built around a story having to do with a kidnapping, murder, or something else like that. The makers of this movie did a spectacular job of making "The Net" intriguing, compelling, interesting, and best of all, suspenseful. Sandra Bullock also puts on an unforgettable performance that makes the movie believable and even more compelling.

An identity can be stolen and a life can be changed dramatically by a simple computer hacker or even a simple diskette. Whether you're a fan of the internet, things having to do with computers or not, at least give "The Net" a rent. If you're a big fan of movies that keep you on the edge of your seat, don't even think about renting "The Net", BUY it instead!

Sandra Bullock stars in THE NET, a suspenseful thriller that will leave you at the edge of your seat. She plays Angela Bennett, a woman who is cut away from reality and the world and works from home as a computer virus detector. She comes across a disk which has a glitch that allows hackers to get into the FBI system. She takes a vacation and has a one night stand, with the man who is after her disk! Soon she finds her identity has been erased, and is forced to take on the identity of Ruth Marx. Soon she discovers this Ruth Marx has a criminal record, and must go on the run to protect herself and try to win back her identity. Dennis Miller plays her ex therapist and lover, who is a bit of a comic relief in the movie. The movie is fraught with mystery and suspense, as the story unfolds you'll find yourself hooked until the very end, when Bullock's character unravels the mystery and regains her life. THE NET is a movie that isn't as well regarded as some of her other hit movies like WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, MISS CONGENIALITY or SPEED, but it fits right among them as one of her best. She plays the part really well, of a woman who is terrified to find out that she has lost her identity. A must watch.

The Net combines elements of techno paranoidism, action, and reverses the usual gender roles. The result is a little uneven, but still worth watching.

The premise is that an isolated, but brilliant, software engineer (Angela Bennett played by Sandra Bullock) has her identity stolen, when she stumbles across a conspiracy involving trap doors in a software security system used by many federal, state, and private databases.

Although stolen identities are a hot topic in today's issues, the ability to steal someone's identity is proportional to the how isolated an individual may be, and this theft is made easier because Angela's life is very isolated. She works out of her home and communicates primarily over the telephone and internet. There are lots of people who would like to meet her, but she puts them off.

The technological portion of the film that is interesting shows how a person, who depends on computerized output, can be murdered when someone else fools with the data bases. This happens over and over, as the conspiracy attempts to isolate and kill Angela.

The action part of this film involves most of the cliches common to this type of genre. We get the chase in the crowd, on the merry-go-round, in the darken street (several times), on the freeway, at the bridge crossing, on the boat, in the amusement park, and finally on the catwalk. The first couple of times are OK, but after a while it begins to get tired.

Fortunately the film is saved because it reverses the usual gender roles. Like true action heros, no one suddenly appears and SAVES Angela. Everyone she tries to get help from are either killed or isolated. In the end Angela saves herself using the same wits and knowledge that made her a much sought after engineer. She gets back her identity, exposes the conspiracy, and kills the bad guy.

I like Sandra Bullock. She has the isolated awkward character down pat, but still with enough pluck to fight back. Jeremy Northam's heavy is smooth enough to stare down a cobra, and seems to have a psychopathic personality that he trieds to hold in check. He gets his relief on a keyboard.

I wanted to scream at some of the technology holes in this film. The flashing terminal showing lots of overlaying screens which, I suppose, was suppose to represent the Trap Door was laughable. The way in which Angela tricks Jack into infecting the main system with a virus on the floppy without getting him to explicitly invoke the virus program is, well, not very realistic. One of my favorites was the ability for Angela to easily read binary code, and in a matter of seconds, identify and isolate an absolutely new virus. This is indeed a superwoman. There were lots of other things too, but they would only be distractions to people who actually make their living writing software.

I recommend this film.

Not exactly designed to be reassuring about computers and technology, the film's premise is that a hacker group has infiltrated the nation's computer systems and is behind major terrorist attacks. Sandra Bullock is excellent as a computer expert who is unwittingly helping the bad guys until she finds out what is going on....and then she's on the run for her life as the terrorists try to get to her before she exposes them. While I think Sandra Bullock is at the top of her form in this one, I think Jeremy Northam hasn't gotten nearly enough credit for his role as Devlin, the romantic stranger/hacker/bad guy. You'll get a kick out of Dennis Miller, too, as Bullock's ex-boyfriend who nearly comes to her rescue. I have only one quibble about this film. If you pay attention to Bullock's mannerisms, you'll notice that there's rarely a scene where she isn't fiddling with or playing with her hair- tucking it behind her ears, pulling it back in a pretend ponytail, brushing a strand off her forehead. What is THAT all about anyway? I felt like saying, "Get a haircut already!"

I think Sandra Bullock has covered almost every movie genre but horror. And she's done each with expertise and fun. In The Net, Sandra plays Angela Bennett. A woman committed to her job as a computer virus-detector. After having a one-night stand with a guy on her only vacation in 6 years, her life ... is suddenly gone. All because of a single disc in which the man she slept with wanted. Now she must run from the police, and the group of people out to get her. With only the aide of her old shrink and lover, played by Dennis Miller. Sandra tackled the role of Angel Bennett as well as she has all of her roles. She shines throughout the whole movie. Although her character falls deeper and deeper into insanity. Dennis Miller was the comic relief, and did well at that. The story itself is something that could happen in real life, and that made the premise frightening in a way. To have your whole life stripped away from you in one second is absolutely terrifying. The directing in The Net wasn't topnotch, but does keep you on the edge of your seat. I wish the DVD would've had at least a featurette or something. It doesn't even come with a theatrical trailer. But the picture and sound quality are good, and there are scene selections. The menus look like they're right from a computer program. The Net isn't one of Sandra's best movies (Leave that to Miss Congeniality), but it certainly is one of the entertaining ones.

The Net is a great movie. Keep in mind that this movie was made in 1995, which is the Dark Ages of the internet. No, it is not the most technically accurate movie, but it is not suppose to be. It's a movie. One may classify it as sci-fi, and what is GOOD sci-fi... something based on reality, but stretches scientific reality a little and asks "What if this were to happen?"

I think Sandra does a wonderful job in this movie. Within a relatively short period of time, you genuinely feel for Sandra's character and are concerned for her.

This is wonderful movie, with a captivating plot, solid acting, good direction, and is just plan fun to watch.

And by the way, Enemy of the State came out 3-4 years after The Net... and while I liked Enemy, I love The Net. Another good movie in this arena is No Way Out... Check it out.

This is a great cyber thriller and Sandra Bullock does an excellent job portraying a female computer geek. The directing, casting, sets, and music are first class. Those of us that are in the computer industry and those who are not will both enjoy it. I'm a Senior Engineer that has worked with computers for twenty plus years and I saw it when it was first released.

When I first saw this movie, only one thing amused me, the Wolfenstein game, it's the movies only shortcoming. At the time the movie was released the game was old news and they carry on about how the game is state of the art. It didn't ring true with those of us that were on the bleeding edge of the gaming community. They should not have put the game in or came up with something that looked high tech since the game dates it. Perhaps snobbery, but true nonetheless.

As I said before it was the only shortcoming. This movie is excellent and the mood is like a Hitchcockian or Grisham thriller. Well paced and it keeps you guessing what's next. The threat of identity theft and large computer companies failing because of faulty software today only shows how in that respect the movie was ahead of it's time. I never tire of watching it. The DVD quality is good, but unfortunately it does not include any extras. Still well worth buying a copy.

This movie is disturbing in the sense that its scenario, today, is so very real. In comes a computer geek (Bullock) who somehow gets her identity erased because she's on to something big. She's naive enough, which is great cause for getting all worked up about it, and you want to yell at her from the outside to get it together. But there are interesting characters - some you want to live and others you wishes didn't die, and others, of course, you are glad did die. It's a good ride, this movie, and it's recommended.

The movie begins with the suicide of a government official. Next it shows a young woman who spends time playing computer games for profit, and dines on pizza and chocolate candy. Her life is solitary, communicating mainly thru telephone lines. (An earlier incident in Angela's life made her withdrawn.) A package is delivered, and she runs the enclosed diskette. Because of the diskette's secret, great danger enters her life.

The story tells how her identity can be stolen, and official records created, to make her a wanted criminal. She survives many attempts to kill her, but her close friends do not. All because of that diskette, whose secret is slowly revealed.

The secret of the diskette is how a "bug" was installed into protection software to create a 'trap door' that can be used to allow a person to access any computer, and then browse, create, or modify the data. This is NOT fiction - some software does come with defaults to allow access. (I once heard a person boast that his former firm had a tradition of doing this.)

Angela discovers that a deliberately incorrect medical diagnosis was created to induce the suicide of that government official. After escaping dangers, she succeeds in sending the information to the FBI, and the plot is uncovered. (Did you note the resemblance of 'Jeff Gregg' to the fictional 'Will Styles'?)

The movie's style and scenes reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock: an innocent on the run due to a mistaken identity, or stumbling into a secret plot. The parade scene recalls "Blowout", the ending on the catwalk recalls "The Parallax View". Some criticize this for copying, but I would call it "best practices". But all ends well to make it a successful movie.

I remember watching this film 10 years ago on video, and thinking that it was an exciting rollercoaster ride. the film mainly works thanks to the credibility of the sandra bullock character, she comes through as vulnerable, yet smart and she pulls you into the paranoia, suspense , and action of the plot. And the film still works today because as in the film, we've become a society completely dependant over computers and we can empathize with the fear of becoming victims to technology.